


Birthday Blues

by seetherrayne



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Lydia's 18th Birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-04-04 22:44:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4155795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seetherrayne/pseuds/seetherrayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for stydia-fanfiction on tumblr. When Lydia turns eighteen, she thought that it would at least be acknowledged - after all, surviving everything they've been through isn't something all of the people that have been involved can say - but why is it that she's the only one who seems to think that?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthday Blues

**Author's Note:**

> Written for stydia-fanfictions on tumblr.  
> I do not own Teen Wolf.

Lydia put the finishing touch on her makeup, smiling to get the full effect. Satisfied, she grabbed her book-bag and went downstairs.

“Happy Birthday, sweetheart!” her mom told her as she walked into the kitchen. “I made your favorite. They’re not the prettiest, but I hope they taste good.”

She set a plate of crooked chocolate chip pancakes on the island, topped with strawberries and whipped cream. Lydia couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Mom.”

She sat down as her mom got another plate for herself, taking a bite. She moaned as the flavor hit her tongue. “They’re perfect. Taste just like Grandma’s.”

“Good,” Natalie said as she sat down herself. “Do you have any plans for tonight?”

Lydia shrugged. “Not that I know of. We haven’t talked about doing anything.”

“Really?” she asked. “No party? Not even a sleepover with the girls?”

“Nope,” Lydia told her. “We’ll probably figure something out, though. Unless you want me for tonight, of course.”

“It doesn’t matter,” her mother answered, patting her hand. “As long as I can take you shopping, I’m fine.”

“All right,” Lydia said, turning back to her pancakes.

“It does seem odd, though,” Natalie said, expression thoughtful. “Your friends hadn’t said anything at all?”

“No,” she answered. “But I’m sure it’s nothing. I mean, everything’s been so crazy until a couple weeks ago, so we just haven’t talked about it. I really don’t think that they’d forget my birthday.”

“True,” her mom said. “Who knows? Maybe they’re throwing you a surprise party.”

Lydia rolled her eyes. “Sure, Mom.”

‘’’’’’’’

By lunch, she was starting to think her mother may be right.

She sat next to Kira as they talked, and she couldn’t help but be a little miffed that no one had even bothered to mention her birthday. She stared down at her food, tuning out their conversation as she picked at her plate. Even if they were throwing her a surprise party, they could’ve at the very least asked her what she was doing that night so they could make sure she was free. But nothing!

“Lydia?”

She looked up to find Kira giving her a concerned expression. “Are you okay?”

“Totally,” she assured. “I was just zoning, I guess. I didn’t sleep very well last night.”

“Oh,” Kira nodded. “What’d you think about that test?”

“There were a few tough questions,” Lydia said. “But I’m pretty sure I aced it.”

“Of course you did,” Malia told her. “You’re a freaking genius.”

Lydia narrowed her eyes at the girl across the table, not liking the tone she used. She made it sound like being a genius was a bad thing. “There’s nothing wrong with being a genius.”

“I never said there was,” Malia said, her brow furrowed in confusion. “But it does get annoying at times.”

Lydia clenched her jaw, trying not to snap at the girl across from her. She was not in the mood for Malia’s unfiltered bullshit.

Stiles must have sensed her anger, because he quickly changed the subject. “Scott, have you talked to Deaton about getting off tomorrow afternoon?”

“Yeah,” Scott nodded. “We’re good to go.”

“What are you guys doing?” Lydia asked, her interest peaked.

“We have an extended lacrosse practice tomorrow to prepare for the game,” Stiles explained. “Hayden High’s number one in the region, so Coach is freaking out.”

“I bet,” she said, turning back to her food.

They went back to their own conversations, and Lydia’s stomach sank as she continued to pick at her food.

It really shouldn’t bother her. Things had been so crazy, she shouldn’t be surprised if they forgot her birthday. But she was. And it hurt.

She glanced at Stiles, who was talking animatedly to Malia about their plans for the night. The boy who could’ve opened a shop with what he bought her was the same boy who didn’t even acknowledge the occasion only a year later, and was going on a date with his girlfriend instead.

Yeah, it definitely hurt.

‘’’’’’’’’

Lydia walked down the hall at the end of that day, wanting to go home and drown herself in ice cream cake. She knew that she shouldn’t be so upset over people forgetting her birthday, but she couldn’t help it. These people were her pack, and the closest friends she had, and they didn’t even bother to remember her birthday.

As she made it to the parking lot, she pulled out her phone to text her mom. _Hey. Can we go shopping tonight?_

Her mom replied almost immediately. _Of course, sweetie. :)_ _  
_

Lydia sent back a smiley face, feeling a little better at the prospect of retail therapy.

She felt a shove as someone brushed shoulders with her, and she spun around to face the jerk. “Excuse me? A sorry would be nice.”

“I didn’t even know if you’d notice,” Danny said, turning around. “You know, you shouldn’t walk and text.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t spend much time with Danny anymore, hadn’t since Jackson left, but sometimes she really missed him. She put a hand on her hip and raised her eyebrow in a teasing manner. “You could still say sorry. You should use your manners.”

“Sorry, malady,” he caved, giving her a deep bow. When he straightened back up, he gave her a smile. “Or should I say Birthday Girl?”

“You remembered?” she asked, surprised.

“Of course,” he told her. “I had to help Jackson pick out your gifts for years. Sometimes I had to remind him that your birthday was coming up.”

“So you picked out the gifts he bought me?” she asked. “Everything makes so much more sense.”

“Doesn’t it?” he said with a laugh. “Look, I gotta run, but Happy Birthday.”

“Thank you,” she told him as he walked away. She went to her car, touched that he had bothered to remember.

At least someone did.

‘’’’’’’’’’

“We need to do this more often.”

Lydia and Natalie walked into Coldstone Creamery, finally done with Lydia’s birthday shopping.

“Well, we can try,” Lydia answered her mother. “But I don’t think we should do it all the time.”

“We should do it more than once a year,” her mom said as they got in line. “I miss doing things with my girl.”

Lydia smiled at her. “I miss it, too.”

They got their ice cream and sat at a table, shoving their shopping bags under it so nobody tripped.

“So why didn’t you plan anything with your friends?” Natalie asked her after a moment.

Lydia shrugged. “It just didn’t happen. We decided to do something later. Plus, I wanted to spend time with you.”

She raised an eyebrow at her daughter, not buying any of it. “What really happened? Spill.”

“Who uses ‘spill’ anymore –“

“I do,” her mom said. “Now, spill.”

Lydia sighed, setting her ice cream on the table. “They didn’t mention anything about my birthday, or hanging out with me. Stiles and Malia are on a date, and I don’t even know what Scott and Kira were doing. They completely forgot about my birthday.”

“Sweetheart.” Her mom took her hand across the table. “I’m so sorry.”

“I shouldn’t even be as upset over it as I am,” she said. “I’ve gotten through more than someone forgetting my birthday. But...those people are some of the closest friends I’ve ever had, and they just forgot. And I can’t help but think that if Allison was still here, she would never have let them forget…”

Natalie squeezed her hand, and Lydia looked up to see tears in her mother’s eyes. She swallowed thickly, trying to keep her own tears at bay. She was in public, for God’s sake.

“Sometimes I forget everything you’ve been through,” her mom said. “But I know how hard it has to be. You have every right to be upset at them. All of you have been through a lot _together_ , and the fact that they forgot your birthday is just mind-boggling to me.”

Lydia shrugged. “It is what it is, I guess.”

“Did you tell them that they forgot?” she asked.

“No,” Lydia answered, shaking her head. “I didn’t really see how that would help the situation. Then we all would’ve felt bad.”

Natalie patted her hand. “It’s okay to be mad at them, and it’s okay to tell them that you’re upset. You don’t want hidden resentment in any type of relationship. It can ruin everything.”

Lydia nodded. “Okay, I’ll tell them.”

And she would.

‘’’’’’’’’’

“Lydia! Lydia, wait up!”

She rolled her eyes as she heard the familiar voice behind her, but she slowed down none the less.

Stiles caught up to her, a notebook in his hand. “Here are your math notes.”

“Thanks,” she said, taking them and putting them in her bag.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She raised a brow at him. “I guess, why?”

“You just seem down,” he told her with a shrug.

She shrugged herself, muttering under breath, “Wonder why?”

“What?”

“What?”

“What did you just say?” he asked. “Lydia, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” she said, sarcasm finding its way into her voice. “Maybe you should ask Danny.”

“Danny?” he said, confused. “What did Danny do?”

“He has a good memory,” she told him simply. “That’s all.”

“Okay, what does his memory have to do with anything?” Stiles asked.

Lydia stopped walking, really looking at him for the first time that day. “You really don’t know?”

“No,” he admitted, stopping with her. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Lydia scoffed. “Never mind. Just go back to playing with your girlfriend and leave me alone.”

She started walking again, as quick as she could in her heels to get away from him. She had given him the benefit of the doubt, and thought that maybe he would look at the calendar and realize what he forgot, but apparently not.

She heard him call after her, but she ignored him as she headed to class.

Apparently, she wasn’t walking fast enough, because Stiles caught up to her after only a few feet. Damn his long legs.

“What the hell has gotten into you?” he told, anger clear in his voice. People stopped around them, curious.

“Let’s not talk about this right now, okay?” she told him, embarrassed that they were being watched.

“No, let’s,” he argued. “Do you have a problem with Malia and me? Because that’s really rich coming from you.”

“Coming from me?” she asked, her anger sparking like a match. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“When I finally get a girlfriend, you’re jealous because you don’t have every bit of my attention, right?” he asked.

She looked at him for a moment, trying to process what he said. If she was angry before, now she was livid. She took a few steps forward so that she was right in his face. “How. _Fucking. Dare_ you.” He stepped back, but she only followed him. “I don’t give a _shit_ that I don’t have every bit of your attention, I am _not_ that fucking shallow. But as your _friend_ – because I thought that’s what we were – I’d like just a _speck_ of your attention. Is that too much to ask?”

“You do get my attention –“

“The hell I do!” she snapped, both of them stopping as he backed into a locker. “You couldn’t even look my way long enough yesterday to wish me a Happy Birthday, you jackass!”

She saw the realization hit him, his face falling as she looked at him.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” she said lowly, a sneer on her face. “You didn’t even remember, did you? You were too busy playing with your little girlfriend to even think about me, right? Too busy trying to please the first girl who says she wants you, right? Too busy getting laid, right?”

“Hey –“

“Shut up!” she told him, pushing him back into the locker. “I don’t care what excuses are gonna come falling out of your mouth, Stiles. I don’t. I know what they’re gonna be. But it’s nice to know you’ve moved on. It’s nice to know that you’ve moved on so much that you don’t even give a shit about me.”

With that, she walked away from him, and this time he didn’t follow her. She barely noticed the people that had stopped to watch the conflict. She just wanted away from him.

‘’’’’’’’’’

By lunch, everyone knew that Stiles and Lydia had fought. Wanting to ignore the stares and probable rumors that had started, she decided to spend her lunch period in the library. She pulled out her laptop, deciding that she would work on her American Lit. paper. She didn’t need to, she was already ahead of schedule on it, but it seemed like a better idea than dealing with her friends, who all had to have known by now what had happened and that they forgot her birthday. She didn’t want to deal with that right now, she’d had enough drama for the day.

“There you are!”

Lydia sighed. She just couldn’t get away from it, apparently.

Kira sat across from her, relief clear on her face. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“I’m fine,” she assured. “I just needed to get some progress done on my lit. paper.”

The kitsune rose an eyebrow, not buying the explanation. “You and I both know that you’re almost done with that. I wanted to find you to give you this.”

She pulled out a small box and placed it on the table, looking at Lydia expectantly.

“What is this?” Lydia asked, taking the box.

“Your birthday present,” Kira explained. “I didn’t forget that you had a birthday coming up, but I did forget the specific day. I should know to ask more than once, because I always end up forgetting.”

Lydia gave her a small smile as she opened the box. It was a pair of delicate chandelier earrings with purple accents. They were absolutely beautiful. “Kira, I love them!”

“I thought you would,” Kira said. “I thought they would go perfectly with that dress you were looking at a couple of weeks ago.”

“I got that dress yesterday, actually,” Lydia told her, a grin on her face. “Thank you, Kira.”

“You’re welcome,” she said. “I know this doesn’t mean you’re not mad at me anymore, but –“

“I’m not mad at you,” Lydia assured her. “I was upset that people forgot my birthday, but I was never really mad at you. I was mad at Scott and Stiles. You know, the ones that I’ve grown up with? Granted we haven’t really been friends except for the past year, but they still knew my birthday. Well, Stiles did, because I always got a card from him, so I’m sure Scott helped him painstakingly pick one out every year.”

“Oh, I’ve already had a talk with Scott,” Kira told her. “Believe me, he won’t be forgetting _anybody’s_ birthday any time soon.”

Lydia couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sure he won’t. But really, thank you.”

They talked until the bell rang, and Lydia felt much better than she had that morning.

‘’’’’’’’’’

There was a knock on her door, causing Lydia to look up from her book. “Come in.”

Her mom opened the door, leaning against the doorframe and crossing her arms. “I heard that you had an interesting morning.”

Lydia groaned, dropping her head onto the book in front of her. “You heard, huh?”

“What happened?” she asked, sitting down on the bed as Lydia shifted to give her more room.

“Stiles was being…Stiles, and I may have said a few things that I shouldn’t have said,” Lydia explained. “But on the plus side, I let them know that I was upset.”

“That’s not exactly what I meant when I told you to talk to them,” Natalie told her.

“Believe me, I know,” she said. “But it just happened. He didn’t even know what I was talking about when hinted I at it, and when he insulted me, I went off on him.”

“He insulted you?” her mom asked. “What did he say?”

Lydia shook her head, guilt filling her at the memory. “I may have told him to go play with his girlfriend –“

“Lydia,” Natalie chastised.

“And then he told me that the fact that I had a problem with him and Malia was rich, and that I was jealous because I wasn’t getting every bit of his attention – which is completely ridiculous – so I blew up at him.”

Her mom slowly nodded. “While I don’t agree, I can understand why you would go off on him. But, I do think that _both_ of you should apologize.”

“I know,” she said. “I do feel guilty for what I said to him, but I didn’t even know if he wanted to talk to me or not, and I didn’t want to make anything worse.”

“Well, you need to do it soon,” her mom told her, patting her on the leg. “It’s never good to let something like that to fester. Ask me how I know.”

Lydia nodded. “Okay. I’ll talk to him.”

“Good. Now what do you wanna do for dinner?”

‘’’’’’’’’’

“Lydia!” the Sheriff said after he opened the door. “Long time, no see.”

“Hi, Sheriff,” she said. “Is Stiles in?”

“Yeah,” he told her. “He’s upstairs. Is everything okay?”

Lydia nodded. “I just needed to talk to him.”

“Come in,” he said. “You know the way.”

“Thanks.” She made her way upstairs, pausing as she stood in front of the door. After a moment of gathering her thoughts, she knocked. There was a commotion behind the door, and the sound of something heavy falling. She heard whispering, and her stomach jumped to her throat as she realized Malia must be the room with him.

Before she could back away, the door opened, revealing a disheveled Stiles, running his hand through his hair to smooth it. His forced casual demeanor changed as he saw her, his stance stiffening. “Lydia. What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you, but you’re obviously very busy, so I’ll just talk to you later.” She turned around to walk away, but he took hold of her wrist to stop her.

“What did you want to talk about?” he asked.

“It can wait,” she assured.

“Lydia –“

“Stiles,” Malia interrupted, pulling the door open further. She looked only slightly more put together than he did. “If she says it can wait, it can wait.”

There was a definite edge to Malia’s voice, and Lydia knew that she wanted to get back to whatever she had been doing with Stiles. Lydia wouldn’t let her mind go there. “Really, Stiles, it can wait.”

“I’m sorry,” he blurted out. “About this morning, and forgetting your birthday.”

“I’m sorry, too,” she told him. “That’s really all I came here to say, so I’ll just get out of your way.”

She broke Stiles’ hold on her wrist, stepping back just out of his reach.

“Lydia, wait,” he said, giving her a pleading look before turning to Malia. “Malia, I really need to talk to Lydia.”

“We were kind of in the middle of something,” Malia said, raising her brow suggestively at him. Lydia felt nauseous at the implication.

“Malia, please,” he told her, a stern edge to his voice. “It’s important.”

She looked at him for a few seconds before giving in. “Fine, I’ll go. Let me know when you’re done.”

She gathered her stuff, putting books in her backpack – and Lydia thought she saw a bra being stuffed in there discreetly – before opening the window and leaving.

Lydia waited a moment before stepping into the room and addressing Stiles. “Does she now know how to use a door?”

“She does,” he said. “She just prefers the window.”

Lydia nodded slowly. “Okay. I really just wanted to say that I was sorry about this morning. I said some horrible things that I shouldn’t have said.”

“I know,” he said, leaning on his dresser. “I said a few horrible things myself. The difference between what you said and what I said, though, is that yours were true.”

“Stiles –“

“No, they were – are,” he insisted. “I haven’t been paying any attention to you, and this was probably the first time I’ve forgotten your birthday since third grade.”

Lydia shrugged. “One year out of almost a decade isn’t that bad.”

“But it is.” He straightened up and took a few steps towards her. “The one birthday where we’re actually friends, is the one I forget? Especially after everything that’s happened? Lydia, the fact that you made it to your eighteenth birthday after the dead pool – after everything – is something that should be celebrated. We should be having a rager for that. But instead we were shitty friends and completely forgot.”

“Kira didn’t completely forget,” she told him. “She just forgot the specific day.”

“Now I feel even worse,” he said, sitting down on the bed. “I’m so sorry, Lydia, I really am.”

“I’ll get over it,” she assured. “I was upset this morning, yes, but since getting some of my anger out, I do feel better about it.”

“I’m making it up to you,” he said. “And, if you want, we can spend more time together. I know I’ve been a pretty shitty friend lately, but I’m gonna be better. Starting now.”

“You have been a shitty friend,” she admitted, grabbing his desk chair and setting it across from him before sitting down. “But I understand why, to a point. Which is why I haven’t said anything before now.”

“You understand?” he asked. “Then explain it to me.”

Hesitant, she bit her lip. “Nothing has been the same since Allison.”

His jaw tensed, but he didn’t say anything, so she continued. “No one’s been the same, and you still feel guilty, no matter how much you say you don’t.”

“Lydia, I –“

“No, Stiles,” she interrupted. “I know you still feel guilty, because I do, too. And you look at me, and Scott, and Mr. Argent, and everyone who knew her, and you walk down the halls that she walked with you, and the desks she sat in, and you – you feel that guilt all over again.”

She took a deep breath, trying to clear the tears building in her eyes. “But Malia makes it better for you. Because even though she was around during while we were fighting the Nogitsune, she didn’t know Allison. Never even met her. You don’t see the loss in her eyes that you see in Scott’s…that you see in mine, so you don’t feel the guilt as much. I’m not saying that’s the only reason you guys are together, but I know that it has to help. I know you haven’t pulled away from Scott that much because he didn’t let you. But I did. Because I thought that you needed time, and I needed time to get over my own guilt. So I stepped away from everybody for a little bit, and let you step away from me.”

He looked at her, and she saw tears in his eyes. “I shouldn’t have stepped away from you, Lydia. I just…I was so caught up in myself that I didn’t notice much else.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” she told him. “You went through hell. You needed to focus on yourself. You still need to focus on yourself.”

“But then I got caught up in Malia, and there was even more that I didn’t notice,” he said. “And a lot of it had to do with you. For a while, I couldn’t even look at you without being overwhelmed by guilt. But I got over it. But I still didn’t pay enough attention to you unless your life was in danger, and that’s wrong. I consider you one of my closest friends, Lydia, and I’ve completely failed at being even a decent friend to you.”

“You’re still one of my closest friends, Stiles,” she said. “That hasn’t changed. You just fucked up by forgetting my birthday.”

“Which I am still making up to you,” he said. “I promise.”

“It better be good.” She crossed her arms and raised her brow teasingly. “I only become a legal adult once.”

“It will be,” he promised. “In fact…Let’s go.”

“Now?” she asked. “What about Malia? You’re supposed to call her when we’re done talking.”

“And I will,” he said. “But we’re not done talking yet.”

He stood up and reached out his hand to her, waiting for her to take it. “Are you coming?”

She smiled, taking his hand and standing up. “Do I have a choice?”

“Not really,” he said, leading her out the door. When they got downstairs, Sheriff Stilinski was in the kitchen doorway.

“Where are you guys going?” he asked as Stiles put his jacket on.

“We’re gonna go hang out for a little bit,” Stiles explained. “Late birthday celebration.”

“Oh!” he said. “Happy Birthday, Lydia.”

“Thank you, Sheriff,” she replied as Stiles opened the door.

“Don’t have too much fun,” the Sheriff called out as they left.

“Where to?” Stiles asked when they sat in the Jeep.

Lydia thought for a moment. What could she do now that she was eighteen? She turned to him, a smile on her face. “Go to the nearest convenience store.”

He shot her a confused look. “O…kay.”

‘’’’’’’’’’

They put the junk food and Slurpees on the counter, and the clerk looked amused at the quantity in front of them. She rang them up, filling up three bags in the process.

“Anything else I can get you?” she asked when she was done.

“Actually there is,” Lydia said as she grabbed a Pisces lighter. “I need a pack of Marlboros and one of every scratch-off you got.”

The clerk raised her eyebrows in surprise. “It’s your eighteenth birthday, isn’t it?”

Lydia nodded, pulling out her driver’s license. “Yes, ma’am.”

‘’’’’’’’’’

“You got twenty bucks off of this one!” Stiles exclaimed, holding it out for her to see.

“Really?” she asked, grabbing his hand to steady it. “Oh my God!”

She put it on the stack of winning scratch-offs, taking a drag of a cigarettes smugly. “Lady Luck is in my favor tonight.”

Stiles laughed as he grabbed another cigarette and lit it. “We can’t say that too often.”

They were on the preserve, the Jeep parked in a secluded area, and they were using the hood as a surface to reveal their scratch-offs. The cigarette pack was half empty already. It didn’t take them long to get used to the smoke, and Lydia had actually enjoyed it after the first few drags.

“You know,” she said. “I really shouldn’t be letting you smoke. You’re still underage.”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Not for too much longer.”

“Still,” she insisted. “I’m the adult in this situation, and I should really be more responsible.”

A mischievous grin found its way onto his face, and he grabbed the pack. “Try to take them from me.”

She grabbed for them, but he pulled away, fully extending his arm above his head. She tried to reach for them, but couldn’t, and she knew that she would break her ankle if she tried to jump in her heels. All she could do was glare at him. “Stiles Stilinski, that’s not fair.”

“But it’s fun,” he said, a shit-eating grin on his face. He grabbed another cigarette, putting it behind his ear before handing the carton to her. “You’ve already made me a chain smoker. It’s a little late to be responsible.”

“I’ll get you some patches on the way home,” she promised him.

“That’s all I ask,” he said, grabbing his quarter and starting on another scratch-off. She heard his phone go off in his pocket, but he ignored it.

“Are you gonna get that?” she asked. “It could be important.”

He sighed and checked it, putting it back in his pocket without answering it. “It’s not.”

“That’s the third time it’s gone off in twenty minutes,” she said. “If we need to go, we can.”

“Are you kidding me?” he asked. “I’m having a blast with you, why would I go?”

“Maybe because your girlfriend has claws?” she pointed out, leaning on the hood as she looked at him.

“She’ll get over it,” he said. “Tonight, I am hanging out with my friend for her birthday. I spend almost every night with her, so one night won’t kill her.”

“Okay,” Lydia said, turning back to her scratch-off. “You might text her to tell her what you’re doing, though.”

“I’ll call her when we’re done,” he said simply before taking a deep drag.

She took a drag herself, silence settling between them. She scratched the last square off her ticket, making a face as it revealed that it was a loser. She put it in the designated trash bag and started on another one.

She hadn’t felt this at ease in a long time, but she wasn’t sure how much of it was Stiles and how much was nicotine. All she knew was that she hadn’t realized just how much she missed him until then. As she stole a glance at him, she couldn’t help but think that she needed more time with him.

“We should do this more often,” she said musingly.

“What buy scratch-offs and smoke a pack of cigarettes?” he asked. “Sure, why not?”

“Not just that,” she told him. “We just need to hang out more. I’ve missed you.”

He smiled at her, nudging her shoulder with his own. “I’ve missed you, too.”

They held each other’s gaze for a moment, and Lydia was reminded how beautiful his eyes were. She snapped out of that train of thought quickly, looking down as she sucked in another drag and put out the cigarette. They finished the stack in silence, and Lydia added up the money she had won.

“Three-hundred dollars,” she announced, placing the stack in her purse so it wouldn’t get lost. “Not bad.”

“What are you gonna do with all that money?” he asked, speaking into an imaginary microphone. He held the ‘microphone’ out to her, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m going to crush the patriarchy,” she said dryly, pushing his hand away. “No, I’ll probably go shopping.”

“ _That_ sounds like Lydia,” he said. They leaned back against the Jeep, Slurpees in hand.

“Look,” he started. “I know this wasn’t how you imagined celebrating your birthday, but I hope you had a good time.”

“I did,” she told him. “This is one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had. Even if it was a day late.”

They stayed there for a while longer, talking about anything and everything. It was well after one in the morning when they got back to Stiles’ house.

“Thank you,” Lydia said as she opened the door to her car. “I had fun.”

“My pleasure,” he said. She closed the door and rolled down her window so she could hear him. “Text me when you get home, okay?”

“Okay,” she promised. “I will. Goodnight, Stiles.”

“’Night, Lydia, and Happy Birthday,” he told her, stepping back.

She backed out of the driveway as he went inside, and she was left with her thoughts. She hadn’t forgotten how much she liked to spend time with him, but she had thought that it was most likely not going to happen again. Or if it did, it wouldn’t be like it used to. But it was, and she couldn’t be happier about it.

And she was being honest that this was one of the best birthdays she’d ever had. There wasn’t the usual worry and fuss that she usually had when she threw her parties. She could just relax, and let herself be. It was nice.

All things aside, her first full day as a legal adult – or the night, at least – was a pretty perfect one.


End file.
